Colorado's government would no longer have immunity from lawsuits over prescribed fires that get out of control under the terms of an agreement state leaders announced Thursday.

The deal ends a contentious debate over a bill that proposed an unprecedented method for the state to make amends for the Lower North Fork Fire, which sparked from a controlled burn the week before. By stripping immunity for prescribed burns, victims of the Lower North Fork Fire have a clearer path to file claims against the state through the normal legal process.

That eliminates the need for a special commission of lawmakers and state officials to review and suggest payment on claims outside the court system. Critics of the commission — including the state attorney general and the governor's office — said creation of the commission would violate the state constitution.

"We can't bring back what they've lost," said state Rep. Cheri Gerou, an Evergreen Republican who sponsored the bill for the special commission. "But we've made a better system for them."

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The compromise solves the two biggest obstacles for Lower North Fork Fire victims seeking fair payment for their losses: the state's immunity from lawsuits and the $600,000 limit on damages the state could pay to all victims of a single incident.

Fire victims could now file notices of claim — the first step to filing a lawsuit — with the state for their losses. Before, it was uncertain whether lawsuits over the fire would be successful because they didn't fit clearly under one of the specified exemptions to the immunity the state enjoys from lawsuits.

Those claims could then be taken up by the state claims board, which approves all large legal settlements the state pays out. The claims board normally acts only after claims progress into lawsuits. But Attorney General John Suthers, who sits on the board, said today that the body could opt to take the claims up with a lawsuit.

If it determines the state is liable for the damages, the claims board would approve payment to the fire victims. Gov. John Hickenlooper said a never-before-used provision of state law also allows the claims board to recommend payments above the liability caps in extraordinary cases. The legislature would have to approve those above-the-cap payments.

Hickenlooper said he met with Scott Appel, whose wife was one of three people who died in the fire, this week before negotiations on the deal. He said the proposal will allow victims to seek compensation "in the appropriate way."

"Their losses have been indescribable, and there's nothing that's going to get done in this building that will totally replace what was lost," Hickenlooper said.

Upset at what they felt was an inadequate response from Hickenlooper toward fire victims, Republican lawmakers proposed a bill to create the special compensation commission. The commission also would have held hearings to investigate the fire.

The proposal for the commission passed in the House this week and was due for its first hearing in the Senate today, until the agreement stalled its progress. House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, said Republicans intend to push forward with plans for the commission — without its compensation duties — so that fire victims can participate in public hearings about the blaze.

The agreement announced today must still be introduced in the legislature. Lawmakers then must shepherd it through at least six votes in two chambers before midnight Wednesday, when the legislative session ends.

But with the support of leadership in both parties in both chambers, such a law-making sprint appears likely to succeed.

"It was obvious Colorado made an error that changed the lives of these people," Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, said. "It would be a mistake not to correct it."

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